Middle East > Jordan > Arab League Economic Cooperation a Fantasy

Jordan: Arab League Economic Cooperation a Fantasy

2013/03/31

Though international politics may be taking precedent at the March 25 Arab League summit, there are some fundamental Arab realities that have remained constant.

Arab nations, which span an area of additional than 13 million km2, have some of the world’s highest youth unemployment rates at 26 %. According to an IMF study, Arab nations must create additional than 22,000 jobs per day until 2020 in order to address high unemployment and accelerate increase.

This reflects a chronic ailment of the Arab world: class differences that stem from international politics or mismanagement at a national level.It seems almost certain that such figures are not on the schedule of this year’s summit in Doha, Qatar, a country that particularly highlights the region’s inequalities. As Qatar’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita has exceeds a whopping $100,000, additional than half a million children in Yemen face the risk of starvation due to high food prices.
This reflects a chronic ailment of the Arab world: class differences that stem from international politics or mismanagement at a national level.

The size of the Arab economy– as in, the sum of what 22 nations produce in one time– amounts to $2.55 trillion, of which 60 % comes from oil and gas. As fragile nations are plunged into internal unrest, they are once again lured by the potentials of oil and gas exports.

The Arab League, which celebrated its 1945 founding anniversary a few days ago, is light years away from achieving its basic mission: “To strengthen relations and facilitate cooperation part member states.” In truth, this was at no time a realistic goal from the beginning.

In principle, the institutions of the Arab League should seek to facilitate cooperation, but in reality, this has at no time been the case. One vivid example of this is Lebanon. While the Syrian crisis chips away at its economy, the Gulf nations are besieging Lebanon through a tourist boycott.

Despite amount this, the idea of ​​Arab economic cooperation continues to tickle the fancy of some analysts and intellectuals, who believe that Arab wealth, if invested appropriately, would benefit amount Arabs. From presently on it presently seems that the very idea of the Arab League is in the realm of wild imagination.

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